After a lapse of 485 days, Gan Yu returned to Menghugang, Shimian County, Sichuan, where he survived in the wilderness for 17 days and was finally rescued, and took a photo with his life-saving benefactor Ni Taigao.
▲Gan Yu (left) and Ni Taigao took a group photo with a smile on the Tiger Gang
On September 5, 2022, after the Luding earthquake, Gan Yu, an employee of Wandong Hydropower Station, and his colleague Luo Yong did not choose to escape as soon as possible, but insisted on the emergency opening of the flood gate of the hydropower station to avoid the danger of the river overflowing the dam and washing away the downstream villages, and then they looked for a way out to save themselves. On September 7, Gan Yu, who was physically exhausted due to his injuries, asked Luo Yong to leave first to look for rescue; Luo Yong was successfully rescued on September 8, but Gan Yu lost contact with the outside world until the morning of September 21, when he was found and rescued by Ni Taigao, a villager in Wanggangping Village, Shimian County. At this time, 17 days have passed since the earthquake, and Gan Yu has written the miracle of life with tenacious willpower.
▲Gan Yu and Ni Taigao sent blessings to each other
Now, more than a year has passed since the earthquake, and Gan Yu's injuries have healed. On January 19, 2024, Gan Yu and the Red Star News reporter returned to Wanggangping Township, Shimian County to visit Ni Taigao, a life-saving benefactor who was about to move into a new home. As soon as they met, the two were still very cordial, caring about each other's bodies and lives, and on the occasion of the New Year, the two also sent each other blessings. The Red Star News reporter also returned to him the clothes worn by Gan Yu who was rescued in Menghugang, and Gan Yu picked up his clothes and looked at them for a long time, as if his thoughts had returned to the time of the earthquake.
Gan Yu picked up the belt and pointed to the traces on it and told the Red Star News reporter, "I ate this belt, I ate it, when I was hungry, I thought it was leather, but it turned out to be an artificial leather, I couldn't eat it, I couldn't help it at that time, I had to eat everything." He said he plans to keep them at home and tell his story to his children later.
▲ Ni Taigao and Gan Yu recalled the situation when Gan Yu was rescued on the Tiger Gang
On the same day, Gan Yu and Ni Taigao also climbed the Tiger Gang again, which was the place where he insisted on surviving alone in the wilderness, and it has been 485 days and nights since he was rescued and transferred from here on September 21, 2022. The Red Star News reporter learned that this is also the first time that Gan Yu has returned to this important "hometown" in his life after being rescued.
After Gan Yu clearly saw the terrain of Menghugang, he also admired himself and surpassed his limits.
All the way, full of memories all the way. At the rescue place of Menghugang, Ni Taigao talked about the scene when Gan Yu was rescued, and Gan Yu said with a smile that he couldn't remember some of them. This time, the two were no longer as nervous as they were at the beginning, and they took a group photo with a smile.
Gan Yu told the Red Star News reporter that in the past year, he has been trying to forget some things, relax through work and travel, and try to adjust his state. He said that although he is now in a management position, he still sometimes goes to the front line, and when he enters the mountain, he still subconsciously thinks of the earthquake, so that he will not feel that nervous feeling when he comes out of the mountain.
Regarding the memory of being trapped in the mountain, Gan Yu said that he was very frightened and even a little desperate in the first few days, but then he didn't think about it so much. He couldn't remember how his body had been injured so much, his ribs were sometimes aching, and his feet and legs were numb.
▲In 2022, when Gan Yu was rescued (file photo)
At the beginning, he and Luo Yong were going to go out together, but on September 7, he couldn't walk, so he let Luo Yong go first, and he chose to wait for rescue in the same place. He waited for 3 days, but the rescue team had not yet arrived, and he was worried that Luo Yong would also be killed.
In fact, after Rayong was rescued on the morning of September 8, the helicopter could not take off into the valley because of bad weather, and it was not until September 11 that the rescue team arrived at the location where Royong and Gan Yu were separated, but by that time Gan Yu had already gone downstream along the river.
Gan Yu had planned to walk down the river to the company's premises in search of food and to charge his phone. He walked a while, but the current was too fast for him to wade across and broke his ribs in the river. He had to go back and go up the mountain, and Luo Yong told him that if he went up the mountain, he could reach Menghugang, where there was a grassland, and through the grassland, there was a road, which was built in the former lumber yard.
While walking up the mountain, Gan Yu found wild kiwifruit, which he hadn't eaten for several days, and he picked a lot of kiwi to eat in those two days. Then continue to climb the mountain, there is no road, all cliffs. Sometimes I fall asleep while crawling, and when I wake up, I find a cliff at my feet. The wind was whistling in the dark night, and he couldn't remember the time, because he didn't know how long, how many, or if he slept all day......
He finally climbed to the top of the mountain and found the grassland, but he could not find the path to the edge of the grassland. Surrounded by dense forests, he walked two or three laps along the edge of the grassland, and he no longer had the strength. He could see the cattle and sheep on the grassland, but he couldn't see a single person. He waited on the mountain for two or three days until he met Ni Taigao. Since then, they have formed a fate that they may never forget and cannot be untied in this life.
The reunion on the Tiger Gang is also a "reunion" about life and friendship.
(Red Star News)